Tag Archives: Pentagon

From the Russia state agency TASS: The US decision to pull its troops from Syria creates good prospects for a political solution in that Arab country, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Maria Zakharova said on Channel One on Wednesday. “A milestone story which might evolve from this decision is a real prospect for a political solution,” she said adding that the …

Just in from Lambda Legal: Today, Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN, with partner law firm Winston & Strawn, filed a lawsuit on behalf of two HIV-positive members of the United States Air Force who were given discharge orders just days before the holiday season. Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN filed the lawsuit, Roe and Voe v. Mattis, in the U.S. District Court …

The Wall Street Journal reports: In an abrupt reversal, the U.S. military is preparing to withdraw its forces from northeastern Syria, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday, a move that throws the American strategy in the Middle East into turmoil. U.S. officials began informing partners in northeastern Syria of their plans to begin immediately pulling American forces out of …

The Associated Press reports: The U.S. this week will begin withdrawing many of the active duty troops sent to the border with Mexico by President Donald Trump just before the midterm election in response to a caravan of Central American migrants, U.S. officials said Monday. About 2,200 of the active duty troops will be pulled out before the holidays, the …

CNN reports: The US has begun making the necessary preparations to sail a warship into the Black Sea, a move that comes amid heightened tensions in the region following Russia’s seizure of Ukrainian ships and detention of Ukrainian sailors. The US military has requested that the State Department notify Turkey of its possible plans to sail a warship into the …

The Hill reports: Eighty-eight percent of voters said President Trump should visit U.S. troops in war zones, according to an American Barometer survey released Wednesday. The poll, conducted by Hill.TV and the HarrisX polling company, found that 57 percent of voters polled said it was “very important” for the president to visit troops in war zones, while 31 percent said …

CNBC reports: The Pentagon estimates that the cost of the 5,900 troops deployed to the southwest border will total $72 million, spokesman U.S. Army Col. Rob Manning said in a statement Monday. In mid-October, a caravan of at least 3,500 Central American migrants seeking asylum left Honduras for the United States border. The caravan is currently in southern Mexico. Trump …

Politico reports: The Pentagon is set to begin a drawdown of its 5,800 troops from the Southwest border as early as this week, the Army commander overseeing the mission told POLITICO today — even as the approaching caravan of refugees prompted U.S. customs officers to close a port of entry near Tijuana, Mexico. All the active-duty troops that President Donald …

The Washington Post reports: The total price of President Trump’s military deployment to the border, including the cost of National Guard forces that have been there since April, could climb well above $200 million by the end of 2018 and grow significantly if the deployments continue into next year, according to analyst estimates and Pentagon figures. The deployment of as many …

CNN reports: When the Trump administration first asked the Pentagon to send troops to the southern border, they wanted them to perform emergency law enforcement functions, CNN has learned. The Pentagon said no. According to two defense official familiar with the request, the Department of Homeland Security asked that the Pentagon provide a reserve force that could be called upon …

NPR reports: The U.S. military will be sending 5,000 support troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, the Pentagon announced on Monday. The exact number could be slightly higher or lower, a Pentagon official told NPR. The official said the deployment is being done to support the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection. The uniformed troops will likely be …

Defense News reports: The U.S. inked $55.6 billion in foreign military sales during fiscal year 2018, easily smashing past the previous year’s total — and the Pentagon’s point man for security cooperation expects more in the future. “This is a 33 percent increase over last year and I’m very optimistic that this positive trajectory will continue,” said Lt. Gen. Charles …

Axios reports: Google announced Monday it won’t bid on the Pentagon’s $10 billion cloud contract because of concerns the work wouldn’t align with its artificial intelligence ethical principles, which hold that its software shouldn’t be used to cause harm to people or violate human rights. Google has lately faced a series of conflicts between those ethical principles and major business …

Foreign Policy reports: President Donald Trump is peeved with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson over her handling of his directive to stand up a separate Space Force in the U.S. military, and he’s considering ousting her after the midterm elections, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Foreign Policy. Wilson, a former Republican congresswoman from New Mexico, recently angered …

The Military Times reports: Mailed packages suspected to contain the poison ricin that were sent to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson may be linked to a former Navy sailor, Fox News reported Wednesday, citing unnamed U.S. officials. The report cited U.S. officials saying a return address was the potential link to the former …

CNN reports: Two pieces of mail delivered to the Pentagon mail facility on Monday have initially tested positive for ricin, according to a US defense official. The two suspicious envelopes were addressed to Secretary of Defense James Mattis and to Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral John Richardson, the official told CNN. The mail facility is in a separate building on …

An excerpt from the new book by WaPo’s Greg Miller: When told that the CIA flew surveillance flights over Syria but that only the military conducted strikes — an Obama policy meant to return the agency’s focus to its core espionage mission — Trump made clear he wanted those restrictions wiped away and for the agency to start firing. “If …

The New York Times reports: Back when their relationship was fresh and new, and President Trump still called his defense secretary “Mad Dog” — a nickname Jim Mattis detests — the wiry retired Marine general often took a dinner break to eat burgers with his boss in the White House residence. But the burger dinners have stopped. In the second …

Bloomberg reports: The Trump administration defended a new military policy that will allegedly result in HIV-positive service members being fired in violation of their constitutional rights when it takes effect Oct. 1. The “Deploy or Get Out!” directive is intended to improve military readiness by weeding out soldiers who can’t deploy overseas for more than 12 consecutive months “for any …

CNN reports: The US officially re-launched the US Navy’s Cold War-era Second Fleet Friday, a move that comes amid renewed concern over the threat posed by Russia. “US Second Fleet has a storied history, and we will honor that legacy,” Vice Adm. Andrew “Woody” Lewis, who took command of the fleet Friday, said during a ceremony marking the fleet’s re-launch. …